World Champs Briefs

Japan takes 2nd men’s walk gold

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The latest on the world track and field championships.

Toshikazu Yamanishi of Japan has won the men’s 20-kilometre walk, as Russia’s squad of officially neutral athletes claimed another silver medal.

Yamanishi held on to win by 15 seconds from fast-finishing Vasily Mizinov on the Doha seafront. Third went to Perseus Karlstrom of Sweden.

Japan has won two gold medals at the world championships, both in the walks.

Russia started yesterday’s events with three medals and finished the night with six after Mizinov’s silver and a 2-3 finish in the men’s high jump. That matches the total medal tally of the Russian team in 2017, when they also competed as neutrals due to punishment for past doping offences.

 

Barshim retains high jump title

 

The crowd in Qatar erupted in cheers after homeboy Mutaz Essa Barshim retained his world title in high jump.

 

Barshim jumped 2.37 metres, the best in the world this year, and his victory was sealed when Russians Mikhail Akimenko and Ilya Ivanyuk both failed all three attempts at that height.

 

Barshim has a personal best of 2.43, two centimetres short of the world record, but opted to stop jumping at 2.37 and start the celebrations.

 

Every jump from Barshim was cheered uproariously by a large crowd of Qataris in the nearest stand, some displaying a large banner bearing his image. The crowd yesterday was much larger than at any previous day of the championships after many free tickets were distributed.

 

Cubans back on top women’s discus

 

Denia Caballero lost her world title to Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic in 2017, but yesterday her compatriot Yaime Perez beat them both to take the gold.

 

Perez threw 69.17m at her fifth attempt to snatch the lead from Caballero, whose best mark was 68.44. Perkovic, the Olympic champion, had to settle for bronze with 66.72m after fouling her last three throws.

Kipruto the king of 3000m steeplechaseConseslus Kipruto of Kenya remains the man to beat in the 3,000-metre steeplechase — but only just.

The 2016 Olympic and 2017 world champion overhauled Ethiopian 18-year-old Lamecha Girma on the final stretch to win by just one-hundredth of a second in a photo finish.

The winning time was 8 minutes 1.35 seconds, the fastest by anyone this season. The silver was Girma’s first ever medal at a major championships.

Soufiane El Bakkali took the bronze for Morocco.